It’s rare when Allan Houston disagrees with his coach, but he didn’t like Don Chaney’s decision to bench him early in the third quarter Friday night in New Orleans after picking up his third foul.

Houston never regained the magical touch that propelled him to knock down 11 of 13 shots in the first half. He went scoreless in the second half and overtime, missed his last five shots and finished with 23 points in the overtime loss. But Houston was smart enough to also take blame.

“I just got to do a better job,” said Houston, whose shooting percentage has dipped to 41.7. “I’ll take it upon myself. I don’t want to shy away from it. I have to do a better job. Teams do make adjustments. I have to be able to adjust to their adjustments. When you’re out of the game, it’s hard to do that. I have to get back in the game and do something else.”

No other All-Star goes through confidence swings as sharply as Houston. In the first two quarters, Houston strutted around the court after banging in jump shots from all angles. Then it disappears, just like the Knicks’ playoff chances – no matter what James Dolan thinks.

Chaney said he benched Houston early in the third to prevent him from getting into more severe foul trouble because the Hornets’ David Wesley was attacking Houston every possession. Houston played three minutes in the third quarter. The move backfired, but Chaney knows Houston’s got to regain rhythm after bench stints.

“You can’t play a whole game,” Chaney said.

At 2-9, the Knicks host Minnesota tonight.

“You keep believing things will turn around, but you have to make them turn around,” Houston said.